Two old Batman storylines

Cafe Society
1

When I was a kid in the 1950s I would pore over my uncle’s stash of 1940s - 50s comics. I remember two scenes from Batman and wonder if anyone can place them.

  1. Batman and Robin are trapped in a silo with large (100lbs) bags of rice. And a water hose. Batman places bags in a row from the far wall to the door then hoses down the rice. In minutes the rice bags expand longitudinally and burst the door.

  2. Batman has been captured by an “orange” villain. Everything he does involves orange. Batman is tied in a chair and his eyes taped open. A bright orange light is focused on his eyes. He will soon be blinded by the orange light - oh no! But there is a bowl of oranges and Batman picks one up with his feet and squeezes it until it squirts the lamp with orange juice and it pops.

I can quickly see problems with these scenarios! But is there a list of Batman predicaments that might tell when these were published?

2

Here it is… your next hobby!

I’ve already bookmarked HolyQuandryBatman!.com and look forward to it going live.

3

Funny thing, uncovering Batman’s secret identity was a huge obsession in all those old stories, but when they finally get him tied up, it never occurs to them to unmask him! Then they always run off to commit another crime, leaving Batman untended, at which time he always escapes. His methods of escape still cause me pain from all the eye rolling I did.

4

I loved the take on Batman’s secret identity from The Dark Knight:

“Let me get this straight: You believe that my employer, one of the richest men and most influential men in the world, is secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating up criminals. And your plan is to blackmail this person? Let me know how that works out for you.”